N.C. Barbecue Society honors owner of Smiley's BBQ

Steve Yountz, the owner of Smiley's Lexington BBQ, continues to have a passion for barbecue cooking nearly four decades after he landed his first job.

BY DARRICK IGNASIAKThe Dispatch

Steve Yountz, the owner of Smiley's Lexington BBQ, continues to have a passion for barbecue cooking nearly four decades after he landed his first job at the former Southern BBQ in Lexington.The 50-year-old Lexington native (who turns 51 Sunday) was recently named as one of the 2012 inductees for the N.C. Barbecue Society's Wall of Fame. He was one of four people — the only one from Lexington — to be inducted in this past year's class."I'm honored," Yountz said. "That's quite a recognition."Yountz is the fourth person from Davidson County to be named to the Wall of Fame. The others were Kay K. Saintsing, one of the founders of the Barbecue Festival, and Wayne Monk of Lexington Barbecue, both of whom were inducted in the N.C. Barbecue Society's inaugural 2007 Wall of Fame, and Roger Lohr of Speedy Lohr's BBQ in Arcadia, who was a 2010 inductee.The inductee must have made major contributions of time/talents and services that promoted North Carolina barbecue and contributed to the state's rich barbecue heritage to be included in the Wall of Fame, according to the N.C. Barbecue Society's website. Jim Early, president and chief executive officer of the N.C. Barbecue Society, said he nominated Yountz to the Wall of Fame because of his contributions to the society and his years of work in Lexington."Steve is a great guy," Early said.The Wall of Fame can be viewed by visiting www.ncbbqsociety.com. Early said the N.C. Barbecue Society decided to do a Wall of Fame instead of a "bricks and mortar hall of fame" to be wise with money and take advantage of its website, which averages 100,000 views monthly.Early explained Yountz has served as one of the instructors for the barbecue society's annual classes in which people from all over the country and from other countries attend to learn how to cook either eastern, western or Lexington barbecue. Early said Yountz serves as an instructor "pro bono." The N.C. Barbecue Society holds three major cooking schools in each part of the state each year.Yountz's first job came when he was 13 years old when James "Junior" Coble, the owner of Southern BBQ, hired him to work curbside service. Southern BBQ is now Smiley's Lexington BBQ after Yountz purchased and renamed the restaurant on Winston Road in 2002. Yountz worked at Southern BBQ up until he was about 20 years old and worked at various other barbecue restaurants on a part-time basis before he bought his first restaurant."Lexington barbecue is something I grew up with all my life," he said. "I love it. I do not get tired of barbecue."Yountz recalled the last class he taught in which he served as an instructor for between 75 and 100 people. One of his students was from New Zealand, and Yountz gave instructions on how to cook Lexington-style barbecue, as well as the dip and slaw that accompany it."Lexington barbecue is unique to Lexington," Yountz said. "It's a little different than this eastern versus western (barbecue styles) battle."Serving as an instructor for the N.C. Barbecue Society is an honor, Yountz said."You can break it down so much that these are the basic ingredients without giving away your so-called secrets for your recipe," he said.Yountz, according to the N.C. Barbecue Society's website, carries on the time-honored tradition of cooking real pit-cooked barbecue on the same pits when the restaurant opened in the 1950s. He cooks only pork shoulders, and cooks them lower and slower than most people do, the society reports on the website, which further states the meat is cooked about 10-12 hours.Yountz said he is very passionate about his pit-cooked barbecue versus restaurants that cook it with either gas or electricity."I think there is a big difference in having that pit-cooked barbecue and just the way it's prepared and your end product," he said.Yountz is married to wife Tena, the owner of the two Tiki Shak tanning salons on Talbert Boulevard and Cotton Grove Road. He has two grown children, Zack, 24, a lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps, and Morgan 22, a senior who is pursuing her bachelor's degree in social work from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.Darrick Ignasiak can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 217, or at darrick.ignasiak@the-dispatch.com.

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